Sangheili
The Sangheili (Macto cognatus), also colloquially known as "Elites" are a race of warriors from the planet of Sangheilios. Hundreds of years ago, they were an enemy of the Human race, but in 2559, they finalized a peace treaty with the ones they once opposed. They are seen as warriors to the rest of the galaxy, but they are also famed as philosophers, bards, and recently, scientists. The Elites were originally the most prestigious footsoldiers in the Covenant military, but were betrayed by another alien race, the Jiralhanae, or 'Brutes'. Since their fall from power, the Sangheili had to fight a different war - one for their own survivial, similar to the Humans. Wracked by internal wars, espionage, house warfare, and simply learning the basics on how to function as a civilization, the Sangheili are agreed to be one of the most tested and burdened of the races in Known Space, and they're just fine with that. Physical Description The Sangheili are a race of vaguely reptilioid aliens. They stand well over seven feet on average and are incredibly organized. The first thing that stands out about the Sangheili is their jaw structure. Elites have four jaws that are layered with rows of teeth, which may give one the impression that they would be looking at a very deformed shark head. These jaws can move independantly from one another that can allow them to chew food, form words, or can even be used as a combination of a bite and a vice. Elites are very strong naturally and have multi-banded muscles within their bodies. The Sangheili have two sets of pectoral muscles, which gives them more than twice the strength of the strongest Human muscleman. They can lift over a thousand pounds of dead weight and are absolutely ferocious in a firefight using melee combinations in their attacks. They either use hands or feet, although headbutts are not out of the question, despite being a slightly dishonorable tactic for Elites. Sangheili arms are likewise incredibly muscled, being around twice as thick as a Human's arm. Their hand ends in four fingers - two thumbs and two index fingers. It can be interesting watching a Sangheili operate equipment designed for Humans, though they are completely natural when handling grips or firing weapons that were not originally designed for them. The legs on the other hand are a bit more alien. The Elites possess legs that have two joins in them, which forms a 'reverse knee' further back below the 'first knee'. This is actually technically incorrect as the 'reverse knee' actually corresponds to a heel on a Human foot, similar to birds. This leg structure actually allows them to handle falling from greater heights as the legs form natural shock absorbers. Sangheili feet are digitigrade, meaning that they walk on their toes. This means that they can achieve great speeds quickly, and their foot strength allows them to jump longer distances naturally. In sporting competitions, Elites are required to use the full foot to make things fair, which says many things about how they can operate over regular Humans. Sangheili have two hearts that pump purple-colored blood though their bodies. Twin hearts can increase blood flow and can even result in Sangheili sprinting for longer distances before becoming winded. Sangheili have been known to speak English, though the process takes quite some time. Orginally, the Elites were thought incapable of speaking the language thanks to the unique morphology of their mouths, but the aliens managed to find a way by forcing their mandables together and using their tongues to mimic Human speech methods. For many Sangheili, the process is a bit rough, but skilled speakers can speak the language fluently as well as any Human can. Sangheili have also been known to excel in both Latin and Germanic languages as well due to the fact that both gutteral and rolling phonemes are present in both. Sangheili males generally speak in lower baritone voices. This seems to be a natural part of their species. No real high-pitch speaking male has been observed. Male children generally are softer, but are still deep sounding when listening in comparison. Females on the other hand are softer naturally. They speak in generally higher pitches compared to males and have been described as 'sweeter' sounding. Female children are even higher in pitch. It's worth noting that Sangheili children are also much more agile than Human children of similar age. Sangheili lay eggs, as expected with their reptile physiology. They lay eggs in clucthes of 12-14 and they have an incubation period of about two months. In the ancient past, Sangheili mothers would bury the eggs in a shelter and guard them until they hatched, but modern counterparts simply use incubators similar to how Humans hatch birds quicker. Looking back at all of this, it is not farfetched to think that perhaps the Sangheili may have been descended from flight-capable creatures like the theory that dinosaurs were originally birds before they lost them some time ago. Category:Species Category:Alien